Pragash Pillai, a former executive vice president of operations at Altice USA, has been named executive vice president and chief technology and information officer, taking the place of Philippe Le May, who will serve as a special advisor to the company.
In a memo sent out last week, Pillai was announced as the chief technology and information officer and would continue to lead Altice USA’s operations organization.
Goei noted that PiIlai has a strong background in operations and engineering, and has worked closely with the CTIO organization in the past.
According to a memo from Goei, “Having both the CTIO and Field Operations organisations under Pragash’s leadership will streamline our fiber build and allow us to meet that goal more efficiently.”
Due to the disappointing Q4 broadband results, Altice USA accelerated its plans to build out its fibre network across its footprint last month, pledging to reach 6.5 million homes with fibre by 2025. As of the end of last year, the company made several management changes and announced that it would be changing its name to “Optimum” in order to better reflect its new direction.
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Altice USA and its predecessor Cablevision Systems have employed Pillai since 2010 in a variety of high-level operations, customer service, and technology positions. Prior to that, he served as the company’s executive vice president of customer experience and regional market strategy, where he oversaw the company’s operations. As VP of advanced engineering and digital video for Charter Communications in 1999 and as senior VP of engineering and technology at Bresnan Communications prior to that, he has a long history in the cable industry.
Shortly after Cablevision Systems was acquired by Altice USA in 2017, Le May joined the company. Formerly the head of network communications at Lyonnaise Communications, Le May joined Altice USA in 2006 and is now employed by a division of Altice N.V., its former parent company, Altice France.
In a memo, Goei wrote, “Philippe has been instrumental in the implementation of our network and technology strategy, including the expansion of our fibre network, enabling 1 gigabit speeds across most of our footprint, and the integration of Morris and Service Electric infrastructure into our network, among other accomplishments.” “I am thankful for Philippe’s leadership and his efforts to build a resilient, reliable network that enables our customers to live life connected.”
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